THE OTHER WOMAN

Chapter 5

A myriad of emotions ran through my trembling body. I wanted to pull her by her hair and throw her out of the window. She stood up and walked towards me slowly. I gasped at her clothing. A red dress that barely covered her ass and ridiculously high heeled shoes. How did one walk in such toothpicks? She smiled her rare carefree smile and for a moment I thought of the days when I used to adore her.

"Nice to see you again, girlfriend. Small world huh?"

What the hell was wrong with her? She acted like nothing had ever happened between us.

"Nice dress." I said as coldly as I could manage. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her exposed cleavage as I made my way past her. I walked to my fiance's office, head held high, and shut the door loudly behind me. He looked up from a pile of papers and stared at me in surprise.

He knew I rarely lost my temper.

"What's going on?" I miraculously managed to keep my voice calm.

He looked at me, confused for a moment before it dawned on him what I was talking about.

"Jules..babe, please stay calm. Okay?" He tried to embrace me but I pushed him away with superhuman strength.

"Don't you dare 'babe' me. I'll calm down once you tell me what that b***h is doing in the reception."

He appeared to be shocked for a moment before he gained his equilibrium. He had never heard me insult anyone before.

"You should have told me you were coming," he looked almost helpless and for one fleeting second, I wanted to run into his arms and sob my heart out but I controlled myself. I had to get to the bottom of this.

"Really, Jack? Is that all you got to say? That I should call before I visit my husband to be?"

"She needed a job, and I gave her one."

"What the f**k are you saying? That my ex best friend needed saving and you acted the knight in shining armour??"

"Baby...I'm so sorry. She came here crying, told me that Sam left her and their baby and she desperately needed a job. I needed a secretary so I gave her the job." He appeared to be scared.

"How long has she been working here?"

"Two months."

Holy cow! I wanted to throw up. I had been to Jack's office twice those past two months and he hadn't bothered mentioning that she worked there. Did he go to extra efforts to ensure I never found her when I visited?

The thought froze me.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Baby, I know you. You would have freaked out. You would have been pissed at me and I can't take that. I want to see you happy. I love you Julie, more than life itself. But she was so desperate when she showed up here with her infant son strapped on her back and I just...I accorded her the courtesy I would've given a total stranger." His eyes had both fear and confusion and I didn't know what to make of the story.

"You should've told me."

"Trust me, I know."

"Don't you have some sort of dress code around here? Why is she dressed like that? I don't get it."

"To be honest with you, I don't notice what she's wearing. You can be sure there'll be a dress code to adhere to starting now."

"Jack, that doesn't make me feel better. She beat the s**t out of me a few years ago because she assumed I was having an affair with Sam!"

"I know, baby. I'm only doing this because I couldn't not help her in that situation. If she tries anything stupid, I'll fire her."

He pulled me into his arms and kissed me and my anger dissipated. Since that day, Isabella became a constant factor in our lives. Jack warned her to stay out of my way and she played that role well. She was always attending meetings and business dinners with Jack but I trusted him. They attended conferences and seminars together since Jack said it was very necessary. I still didn't like her, but she was like a fly on the wall. She didn't really bother me. When we started planning our wedding, she offered to help but I turned her down.

Four weeks to our wedding, Jack started acting oddly. He started having emergency weekend meetings. He had passwords on his phone and social media accounts which had never happened before. His phone was always on flight mode when he was at home. I questioned him and he reassured me, saying that he didn't want work related phone calls to disrupt our alone time. I wasn't convinced but I didn't give it much thought. I was busy getting ready for my wedding and nothing was going to deter my happiness.

A week before the wedding, Isabella was fired. I questioned Jack and he told me that she was horrible at her job and he couldn't stand her. Well, that made two of us. I was relieved if anything. She didn't talk to me and I pushed her out of my mind.